If you are a mortgage company stop hesitating and start advertising!!!

Projected for Tuesday Feb 12th President Bush is going to sign the economic stimulus package. This is going to raise the Conforming home loan limit to $625,000. When this happens people that previously had to get a JUMBO HOME LOAN now are going to be able to qualify for better non-conforming rates. If you are a Mortgage Company you have to start advertising because consumers are going to be scrambling to get cheaper loans and cheaper fees.

WHY START ADVERTISING TODAY?

There is going to be a swarm of your competitors jumping into the market come Tuesday to advertise. This means radio stations, are going to be able to charge a premium for mortgage companies to come on because they can only limit it to so many companies at a time. If you get in before your competitors you will lock in a lower advertising rate then your competitors.

If you want to know which radio stations will generate the most leads for your Mortgage Company, call me today at 310 259 7556. Or email me at cameronsamimi@clearchannel.com.

Why Radio Advertising is right for you in 2008

The market is slow, consumer spending is down, and the market is looking towards recession, but some companies are still advertising heavily to make up for the slump. The reason for this is that they are maintaining their comparative advantage over their competitors. When the market is slow, that means that you are going to have a few less consumers shopping for your products, which also means that YOU need to make sure that your business is getting these spenders and not your competitor.

I have a great story for you. Masterserv, a plumbing company, focuses their advertising on copper repiping. Do you know anyone who actually needs copper repiping for their homes? The answer should be no. No-one needs copper repiping. Copper repiping is as necessary as plating your walls with gold. At least your walls are visible and will be noticed by all the people that you invite into your home daily. Nobody even sees your copper repiping except your plummer. Well 2007, considered one of the worst years in consumer spending and for businesses in recent history, was Masterserv’s best year in business. Masterserv has been advertising on KFI for years, and Bill Handel does an endorsement spot for them. Masterserv’s owner even took the time to write KFI to thank them for his success as it would not have been possible without Bill’s endorsement and the KFI team.

What can we attribute this to. A couple things…

1. Masterserv has been on radio for years, thus owning a piece of the consumer’s mind. Even if they stopped advertising today, all the years of advertising they have done will continue to reward them for years to come as they own a piece of every KFI listeners mind. In this respect, they have made a investment in their company for the future. Most advertising (even direct response) sees greater results in the long term and that is why 90% of advertising campaigns see higher yields on their returns in the later months of their advertising campaign.

2. A second reason why Masterserv had a great year is likely because their competitors weren’t spending as much in advertising allowing them to gain the comparative advantage over their competitors. Sure, maybe there wasn’t as many consumers in the market, but because all the other companies realized this they stopped their advertising and so there also wasn’t as many competitors in the market allowing Masterserv to play a bigger role.

So why is radio right for you in 2008.

1. Radio reaches more consumers than any other advertising medium

2. Radio is like your Grandpa, it can tell a story better than any print, tv, or direct mail campaign. As a result you make the consumer believe that they need your product.

3. Newspaper circulation is declining, and rates are rising. The LA Times can’t keep an editor for the life of them because they won’t cut the budget even though circulation has decreased.

4. Radio listenership in the LA market is on the rise. KFI listenership just passed the 1.5 million mark making it the number one news/talk radio station in the country.

5. Cheap production (free for most): Radio is cost efficient in reaching your audience, and…

6. TALK RADIO IS A DIRECT RESPONSE MACHINE!!!

If you are even considering advertising on radio call me today for a free consultation. Call me at 818 566 4646 or email me at cameronsamimi@clearchannel.com

Effective Radio Advertising Tip of the Day #11

Guilty By Association!

How do you relate to your consumer? Don’t know? When making direct response radio ads try to relate it to people’s daily lives. Qualify things as often as you can to people in everyday terms so that they can not only understand it but apply it.

Take a solar panel company here in Southern California. If you are trying to sell Solar panels (a very expensive product), focus on things that would make the purchase more palatable. An example of this is telling the consumer, can you imagine never receiving an electric bill again?, or having solar panels lets me sell electricity to my utility company each month, or how about: the federal government gave me $9000 dollars to install solar panels and now I don’t even pay my utilities. Not only are these statement relevant to 99% of homeowners lives, but you are appealing to an aspect of peoples lives that makes sense.

How can you qualify your product to your consumer. Think economically, aesthetically, or in value terms time or convenience.

If you are considering advertising in radio call me at 818 566 4646 or email me at cameronsamimi@gmail.com

Thinking about advertising in radio?

Radio truly is the most effective means to reach American consumers. Particularly in California where traffic is getting worse and worse every day, people are listening to radio at all time highs.

A big scare for the radio industry was satellite radio and digital media players, however, none of the feared effects ever came to fruition. Check out the attached market study from the Radio Advertising Bureau here. Thinking About Advertising in Radio?

For more radio advertising tips or if you are interested in direct respond radio advertising in Los Angeles, or Orange County call 818 566 4646 or email me at cameronsamimi@clearchannel.com

If you think talk, or news radio advertising on KFI AM 640, KNX 1070 , KRLA 870 or KFWB News 980, in the Los Angeles Radio or Orange County market is right for you I would be glad to offer a free consultation of your company to help you better understand your advertising options.

Media Usage Chart

This will link you to a media usage chart for 2006. It is a little outdated but it gives you a general idea of the reach of radio compared to other mediums. I know since this chart was last updated, radio usage has actually increased.

Media Usage Chart 2006